SANUSI INSISTS $12.5B WAS STOLEN IN NNPC UNDER JONATHAN'S ADMINISTRATION

Muhammad Sanusi II, Emir of Kano and former
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor,
yesterday insisted that some $12.5billion oil
money was diverted under President Goodluck
Jonathan's administration.
Sanusi, who started the row over the “missing” $
20 billion oil money was reacting to the auditors'
report on the Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation's (NNPC's) books.
In an article titled “Unanswered questions on
Nigeria's missing oil revenue billions”, in the
“Financial Times”, he insisted that the PwC Audit
Report confirmed that about $18.5billion of the
NNPC's earnings was not remitted to the
treasury, contrary to what the Petroleum Minister
Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, claimed is the
case.
Sanusi wrote: “Contrary to the claims of
Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke, the
audit report does not exonerate the NNPC. It
establishes that the gap between the company's
oil revenues between January 2012 and July
2013 and cash remitted to the government for
the same period was $18.5bilion.”
Sanusi said the breakdown of the NNPC's
account of how it used that money, raises
serious questions about the legality of the
conduct of the state's oil company.
He said the only thing that is left to be done is
for the authority to hold anyone found culpable in
these transactions accountable and commence
legal proceedings against them since, in his
words, “Nigerians did not vote for an amnesty for
anyone”.
Sanusi said: “The lines of investigation suggested
by this audit need to be pursued. Any officials
found responsible for involvement in this
apparent breach of trust must be charged.”
Giving details of what he described as a “scam
that violated the constitution” and which he
alleged resulted in the siphoning of money from
the treasury,” and by extension, his suspension
as CBN governor, Sanusi said the perpetrators of
the exercise relied on the supposed kerosene
subsidy purportedly granted by the late President
Umaru Yar'Adua.